Friday, November 8, 2013

Mini Pumpkin Strudels

I gotta say, I LOVE strudel. I love the flaky crust and I love the fillings.

On my quest to bring you some interesting items to add to your holiday table this year, I came up with this recipe. I adapted it from a recipe I found online HERE. I love that they are mini and you can eat the whole thing yourself. The pumpkin filling is creamy and it plays well off of the crisp crust. I used frozen filo dough here, and if you've never used it before, let me tell you, super easy to work with.

Each mini strudel starts off with three paper thin layers of thawed filo dough. Each layer is lightly sprayed with butter flavored cooking spray, and then filling is put in at one end and it gets rolled up, placed on a prepared baking sheet and baked at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes. Let them cool a bit before eating so you don't burn your mouth from the hot filling. Don't ask me how I know this! lol

* Although the butter flavored cooking spray appears to be heavy on the dough, it really isn't. It's a fast one to two second spritz. The coloring in the spray and the camera make it look heavy.

I used Athens® 9"x 14" fillo dough sheets for this recipe. It comes in a two pack and there are about 40 sheets per box. You will only be using 24 sheets in this recipe. The unused dough can be stored back in the freezer or up to three weeks in the fridge.

These strudels would make an impressive dessert dish for your holiday table. Everyone will think you spent hours making them and no one will know they are actually a light dessert choice at under 200 calories per strudel!

ground cinnamon and turbinado sugar, to sprinkle on the strudels before baking

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line baking sheet with silpat or parchment.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth.

Open a package of filo dough and lay it out. Take one sheet and spray with cooking spray lightly. Then add another and spray and another and spray, for a total of three. Keep the filo dough you are not using covered with plastic wrap or a damp cloth so it doesn't dry out. At one of the short ends, add a couple TBS of filling about an inch from the edge. Fold the edge dough over the filling and then fold in the sides of the long edges. (see photos) Then roll up burrito style. Just before you get to the end, brush a little eggbeaters on the dough to seal in the filling. Put the finished strudel on the prepared baking sheet and repeat process until you have made 8 strudels. Store any unused filo dough covered in the fridge or back in the freezer.

Spray tops of strudels with cooking spray, sprinkle with cinnamon and turbinado sugar.

Bake in 400 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool before enjoying.

Strudels are probably one of my most favorite kinds of pastry. I love the flakiness and I love that of all the pastry doughs, it's one of the healthiest. I think the three sheets was a perfect amount for each strudel and gave a nice ratio of filling to flaky crust.

Do you have a favorite kind of pastry? Have you ever worked with filo dough sheets before?